


the art of bruising

by monarchs



Category: The Social Network (2010)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Angst, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Forbidden Love, Knotting, M/M, Marking, Non-Chronological, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Porn with Feelings, Really just sort of, Sexual Content, Unprotected Sex, kind of, more feelings than porn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 08:24:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,296
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19390270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/monarchs/pseuds/monarchs
Summary: Alphas have bruises they want to hide too.





	the art of bruising

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [【TSN】【授权翻译】the art of bruising 伤痕的艺术](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20293087) by [Vesuvius_Summer_Embers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vesuvius_Summer_Embers/pseuds/Vesuvius_Summer_Embers)



> This all started with me being whiny about wanting Eduardo to knot Mark. In the end I almost didn't write that, can you believe??
> 
> Thanks for the quick beta-read of the first draft, by [zauqo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/zauqo/works)! Any mistakes though are mine. Mine entirely.
> 
> These are portrayals of the characters from The Social Network. Not anyone else.

And October ended, just as things with Erica had too.

If Mark couldn't remember the look on Eduardo's face that night, it was because he didn't want to. If that was the first thing he thought of when he thought of his breakup with Erica, all those Octobers ago, then it wasn't something he was going to comment about.

Eduardo was the only other Alpha in the group – the only Alpha Mark had allowed so close to him, for so long. The only one whose smell he didn't really mind, not really, because Eduardo smelled a little like soy, like unsalted butter sizzling on a pan, like frothed milk ready to be poured into coffee, like something else far too soft and unimposing for an Alpha. 

Mark hadn't thought much about it, back then. That Alphas weren't supposed to smell that way.

But it didn't really matter.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Eduardo was one of those Alphas who knew to take calculated steps backwards, if it meant they'd win in the long-term, if it meant that they'd bounce forward even further down the line. 

That was what Mark thought of him.

That was why Mark had always kept him close, in the periphery of his vision, at all times.

Eduardo could beat Mark at chess with his eyes blindfolded.

Eduardo could win a race he never even started.

(And someone's heart was going to break.)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
If Eduardo had looked a certain way when he was leaning against the frayed door frame, next to a poster of the Hacker's Manifesto (that Chris had bought Dustin, from a flea market) looking like he knew something Mark didn't know, Mark didn't see it. 

Now he did.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
But Mark wouldn't say he regretted what he did. 

He didn't regret the dilutions. Didn't regret Palo Alto, didn't regret that time during spring break in New York, didn't regret Valentine's Day, didn't regret the series of meaningful touches that traced back to a wintery January day.

There was nothing to regret.

Maybe he missed Eduardo's touches. Maybe just a little, maybe a lot. Maybe he regretted not holding on tight enough. 

Maybe he regretted feeling hurt.

Perhaps he even regretted Facebook. 

Not its creation, of course not. Only. Only the fact that it had been created for the wrong reasons.

All the wrong reasons.  
  
  
  


* * *

"That was the right thing to do. You apologized, right?" Eduardo said, patting his chest twice, awkwardly missing Mark's shoulder.

Mark ignored him, tried to even his breath, his thoughts racing left and right, the faces of Erica's friends imprinted in his mind, glaring at him, choking him with their accusatory eyes. He said, "we have to expand."

Eduardo cocked his head. "What?" 

"We're leaving," Mark said decisively; he was already wading through the crowd to get to the entrance. Eduardo followed in larger strides behind him.

"The girls—" he started.

"Had their fair share of Alpha cock," Mark said, curt. Some people turned their heads at them, and Eduardo sighed.

" _Mark_ , you can't just say that. Jesus," Eduardo whispered, loudly, holding the door open for the person behind him. "We _agreed_."

Mark turned so abruptly on his heel Eduardo almost ran into him. 

"You think she wants you because of your sunny _personality_ or something? Really? How gullible _are_ you?"

Eduardo bit on his bottom lip, frowned, gentle lines creasing on his forehead, then, murmured, "she didn't forgive you, did she?"

Mark exhaled, started walking again. "This isn't about Erica."

It wasn't, it really wasn't.

It was about Alice and Christy shouting for them from the door of the club. It was about Alice and Christy – Erica only fueled Mark's anger a little more. Maybe not even.

It was about the way Alice and Christy and Erica's friends had looked at him.

Like he was an Alpha – but not really.

Like he was an Alpha nobody wanted, nobody appreciated.

"Lose them," Mark ordered. Eduardo gave him a look, uncertain but also a little sorry. 

He said, "okay. I'll send them off. I'll be right back."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Mark hadn't waited for him.

The felt marker was running out of ink when he wrote _Yale_ and _Columbia_ on a whiteboard, handwriting uncareful, no dots on the i. He grabbed a blue one from the mantel, with which he wrote Eduardo's name, and a big scribbly _30%_ next to it. 

He explained the expansion plans to Chris (a story in The Bridge, 10 hours of free programming), and waited by the door, kicking Dustin off the couch so he could settle and chew on a green dart he had in his hands the entire time.

It was late, but Mark didn't sleep yet, spent hours coding in his head, looking at the ceiling, following the line of cracks, doing anything but think of Eduardo, of his moans and gasps reverberating against the tiles of a public men's restroom, of how he wished it were his hands fumbling on Eduardo's shirt buttons, how he wished it were his lips on Eduardo's skin. 

How he wished he hadn't agreed to it at all.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"People are starting to wonder, friends—" Eduardo had said, when they'd gotten back to the dorms after the Bill Gates speech. "Just. We. There can't be a _we_. It's— it's not… it's not natural. Besides – the girls— they want to meet. Tonight." 

_It wasn't natural._

"You're saying you want to have Omegas go down on us, so people wouldn't suspect us? Suspect _you_?"

"I wouldn't put it like that—"

"There's no other way to put it."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Mark only got to sleep when Eduardo was finally back. Only got to sleep after kicking Billy out, shutting the door, taking care of Eduardo.

It was good that none of his roommates ever seemed to question it. It was good that no one thought it was odd that Mark's scent was all over Eduardo, and vice versa. Perhaps it was because they were just around so much.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
He kissed Christy's scent away from Eduardo's skin. Groped everywhere: hips, waist, ass, the small of his back, thighs, legs, thighs again. 

Unrelenting.

"I'm sorry," Eduardo had said. Almost crying, maybe. He looked at Mark apologetically, like he hadn't really liked Christy either, like he was sorry to have ever suggested it.

After Mark was done with him (this time, he swallowed), Eduardo also started touching him back. Mark hadn't expected that.

Eduardo sucked Mark off too, planted kisses everywhere Alice did, and more. 

Eyes closed, cheeks flushed, lips red.

His unspoken apologies against Mark's skin.  
  
  
  


* * *

If Mark tried to call Eduardo, to apologize, just like that time Eduardo did, the line would break after two rings and go—

_Beeep._

Just like that night when the entire Harvard network crashed at 4 in the morning.

"You don't think…"

Mark nodded once, "I do."

Eduardo sighed, turning to look at Chris who was at the windowsill before getting up and saying, "go see if it's everybody's."

Eduardo was that kind of Alpha. Patient, mild, likeable, but authoritative because Betas and Omegas would listen to him, without pause, without doubting his instructions. 

Chris and Dustin had scrambled to their computers like they were fighting to be Beta of the Month or something, as Eduardo stood nonchalantly in the middle of the suite, hands reaching up into his hair, the back of his head.

Mark smiled at that.

He liked the way Eduardo would just look at him, exasperated, but also fond.

 _Fondness_.

Mark wanted to be an Alpha who knew to be fond, too.

He turned away and looked at the computer screen, studying the black Command Prompt window, with Eduardo reflecting softly in its shadows.  
  
  
  


* * *

Mark was late to Caribbean night because he didn't want to go in the first place. He'd just seen the bike room of the Porc, glanced at the group photos on the walls, held a sandwich too big for his pocket, talked with guys who rowed crew.

The place had smelled like _Alpha_. Hard sweat, scorching sun, sandy beaches after typhoons, volcanic ash, molten victory. 

He'd been so close, yet so far. He'd never wanted something more, while abhorring it, all at the same time, because instead of being invited, because instead of getting punched, or recognized for his accomplishments (Facemash, Coursematch, Synapse), he was getting something abstract in return, something that meant absolutely nothing.

Tyler had glanced at Cameron who looked back, and Divya had said, "this could help rehabilitate your image."

Like he could ever forget _u dick_. Like he could ever forget Erica, and her ungrateful Omegan Jeanne d'Arc attitude, like he could ever forget that he wasn't Alpha enough for other people even though he was, in fact, an Alpha, through and through.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Eduardo had three reading lamps in his single because his ceiling light was too dim for the witching hours of the night. The first time Mark was there was probably a little after the launch, a little before Christy and Alice. 

His back was against the bookshelf tucked into the wall, and Eduardo was kissing him roughly, biting at his bottom lip, hands spread on his cotton sweatshirt, feeling for the shape of his waist. 

Mark wasn't sure who started it. Maybe he did – maybe the beer did, maybe Eduardo did. 

Maybe fate did.

"I can't do this," Eduardo had whispered against his lips, pulling back only a little, just barely enough space to breathe. Mark shrugged, closing his eyes and nosing Eduardo's neck. He could feel Eduardo's erection against his thigh, pressing urgently. He decided not to give Eduardo's words much thought and reached down to touch him through his perfectly pressed pants.

Eduardo pushed himself off, shaking his head. "We can't do this, Mark. My father—"

"—is 1500 miles away from this very spot, sat comfortably in his luxury swivel chair sipping some imported Casa Valduga, watching the sun set from his glass-walled office, still none the wiser."

Eduardo scoffed, peeling away from Mark and sitting on his bed, his head in his hands. "Mark, we're both Alphas."

Mark threw his head back, shoved his hands into his kangaroo pocket, and murmured, "oh. See, right before this very second, I had no idea. My bad."

"There's nothing complicated about this. Alphas don't get it on with Alphas. We can't—"

Mark bobbed his head in this vague way that he hoped communicated _you're being fucking stupid_. "But you're hard, and so am I. And it won't kill us, nor puppies, if we had sex right about now."

"I have an Econometrics exam tomorrow," Eduardo said, tired.

Mark stared, unblinking. "You're implying," he paused, looking up, "that you need to study for it?"

"No," Eduardo shook his head, "I just need to clear my head a bit. Rough day."

Mark patted his sweatshirt, motioning to leave. "Fine. I'll go get off with someone else."

Eduardo's knuckles went white as he tightened his grip on the bed sheets. "You're such a jerk," he said, carefully, begrudgingly.

"I've heard," Mark murmured, before leaving and slamming the door behind him.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"I went to my friend for the money because that's who I wanted to be partners with. Eduardo was the president of the Harvard Investors Association, and he was," Mark looked at the empty seat diagonally across the table, "he was also my best friend."

Mark never called Eduardo _Mr. Saverin_. Ever. Even during the preparation for the depositions. 

It was natural that Sy would address him as Eduardo too.

Eduardo had looked a little startled when Sy had called him by his name.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It reminded Mark of the day he had first called Eduardo _Wardo_.

Dustin had been in the room, and he had practically dropped his bottle of beer. 

Eduardo had frozen, in shock or amazement, Mark couldn't really tell. But it wasn't important.

The important thing was – that he called Eduardo _Wardo_ , and that made him his.

Alphas were the only ones allowed to use nicknames, in public, in the company of others, but usually Alphas would only nickname Omegas, maybe close Betas. Never other Alphas. But Mark— Mark never lived by the rules.

And Eduardo knew that, and he'd just smile, looking down at his own bottle of beer, exhaling, whispering _Wardo_ to himself, like it was some sort of bad joke or endearing confession, whichever, shaking his head, then calling it a day, but not leaving the suite without giving Mark one last long and meaningful look.

Of course, when Dustin and Chris started calling Eduardo that too, Mark had glared at them, but he'd let them – because that was what friends did, and the unspoken rules were bullshit to start with anyways.

And Eduardo didn't mind. 

He didn't, right?  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The first time Mark had wanted to kiss Eduardo was on the night of December 16th 2003, when Eduardo had just gotten hazed by the Phoenix in front of the not-Harvard statue in Harvard Yard. The one that freshmen would touch the toes of, for good luck on their exam, or something equally inane.

Eduardo had made it into the final cut. He was visibly happy, even though he had the shivers, and fingers he could barely feel. He seemed to cover his happiness as much as he could though, for Mark's sake, as if it could possibly offend Mark that he was happy. 

Eduardo murmured that he was coming down with something, a hand at his forehead, a sigh rolling off his lips. He lay down on the couch, curling a little into his chest, trying to gather warmth.

Mark looked at him. Watched the line of his body, eyes landing slowly on Eduardo's sheepish smile.

Mark had wanted to touch that smile. Follow the curve of his lips.

Kiss him, take him by surprise, make him forget about making it into a finals club.

"Shit, it's fucking cold," Eduardo had said, which burst Mark's bubble of thoughts. He sat up, shuffled to Mark's bed and pulled the blanket over himself, inching closer to the heater.

Mark swiveled back to his computer, perplexed, unsure whether he was feeling a little agitated inside because of Eduardo making it in, or because of what he had just been thinking about.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Mark had probably thought that by loving Eduardo he was trying to prove that he was, in every aspect and right, an Alpha too. Ironically, he hadn’t realized that _loving Eduardo_ would entail actually falling in love with him.

It didn't take that long. Three months later and he was kissing Eduardo like it was routine already.  
  
  
  
Fingers tightening at the base of Eduardo's nape, Mark pulled him down deeper into the kiss, wanting more, never letting go. 

Dworkin lab was deserted at this hour of the day because most CS kids preferred working during the night. 

Eduardo kept shaking his head, but kept kissing, then kept saying, _go back to Kirkland and sleep, Mark, that's all I came here to tell you, fuck, Mark_. And Mark would taste each and every word, addicted to the way Eduardo whispered them.

"Come on, stop," Eduardo had said, laughing a little, after the last press of their lips. Mark started kissing his collar, inhaling Eduardo's scent, intent on never following Eduardo's instructions. 

"We'll get brunch. Then you need a break. You'll go sleep, Mark, please. For me?"  
  
  
  


* * *

"I wish he'd been asleep."

* * *

It turned Mark on when Eduardo was angry, but that hadn't been his purpose.

He just didn't want ads. Period.

"It's like _The Harvard Lampoon_. With all its lame ads pieced together with MS Paint because they can't afford a pirated version of Adobe Photoshop. We don't want it to be uncool," Mark had explained. 

"You don't need to convince me of anything anymore," Eduardo said, coldly, as they got out of the cab and stepped onto the sidewalk that lead to the hotel. "You have successfully sabotaged all of the meetings I've set up, Mark. What do you even want from me? A congratu-fucking-lations? Cause you know what? Congratu-fucking-lations."

"Clearly they were more interested in the sounds I was making, and not your awful pitch."

Eduardo looked at Mark like he wanted to strangle him with his bare hands. Mark wasn't too intimidated by it. Instead, he leaned in, and whispered, as close to Eduardo's ear he could get, a hand on Eduardo's shoulder, and said, flatly: "I can make _more interesting_ sounds, just for you."

Eduardo pushed Mark off, flustered, before stumbling into a sidewalk sign in front of the hotel that read, _this property is rated best value in Queens!_  
  
  
  
When the door of the hotel room closed behind them, Mark was pushed into it, with Eduardo pressing against his lips, his neck, the skin below his ear. Mark threw his head back, tried breathing, let out a laugh when Eduardo said, "you are infuriating. You know that? God, _why_ do I even want you?"

Mark kissed Eduardo on the temple, buried his nose into his hair, not really acknowledging Eduardo's crisis. 

He smelled particularly good at that moment anyways. Intoxicating, even. Were Alphas supposed to smell this good?

He wrapped his arms around Eduardo, and Eduardo held him up by the hips, a leg slotted between his thighs. His fingers slid down Eduardo's back, trailing the creases in Eduardo's shirt, resting at the valley that followed Eduardo's spine, right under the hem. Teasing the skin there, making Eduardo shiver against the corner of Mark's mouth.

Somewhere between the door and the 'deluxe' double bed, Eduardo had pulled down Mark's shorts, and Mark had unbuckled Eduardo's belt and unbuttoned his shirt halfway, his pale hand finding Eduardo's skin underneath.

Eduardo arched his back from the bed and gasped when Mark leaned down and placed his lips where his hands had been, where his hands had found new homes.

When he took Eduardo's cock in his mouth, sucking on the head and licking its underside slow and steady, Eduardo groaned, low and harsh, and it did things to Mark that he had to close his eyes, had to remember to breathe. To breathe more of Eduardo in.

And Eduardo would whisper, "you're so fucking bad for me," and Mark would smile against his skin, dimpling for no one to see.  
  
  
  
That spring break in New York felt like centuries ago.

But then, everything felt like centuries ago.  
  
  
  
Eduardo had come inside of Mark.

They had combined their pre-come for lube since neither had lube. No Alphas would carry lube – they were expected to copulate with Omegas after all.

It was the first time they'd gone all the way.

Of course, they did fight for dominance (they _were_ Alphas) and bickered over positions (Mark wanted to ride him, Eduardo wanted to fuck him missionary), but it didn't last, because at the end of the day, Mark did like being pampered, did like being served, did like being at the center of Eduardo's attention, did like the way Eduardo could drape over him. Hold him down, fuck into him hard, thrusts deep and long, slow and good, desperation and what could pass off as desire (or yearning, or want, or love in its purest, _rawest_ form), swirling in Eduardo's eyes. Brimming with unshed tears.  
  
  
  
He had liked it, keeping Eduardo's come in him. 

Even if that made Mark less of an Alpha, he liked it. 

It only made him want more. Need more.

Eduardo hadn't knotted him that night – they were afraid Mark's body wouldn't be able to take it; he wasn't an Omega, and there was no lube. 

But Mark had hovered over Eduardo, kissing him, saying that he would, one day, that he would really want it. Needed it, even.

And Eduardo had looked miserably happy. He pushed a curl out of Mark's face and said, "you can't say that, Mark. You just can't."

There were many things Eduardo didn't ever want Mark to say, and it hurt a little, like someone was holding his heart and squeezing, tighter and tighter, never letting go, choking him slowly, waiting for him to give in, give out.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sometimes Mark dreamed of that day he launched the website. The snow under his sandal that he tried kicking off at the landings of the stairway up. The sign that read, "E.S. 9! you asshole," that he paid absolutely no attention to. The way Eduardo had changed his tone from angry to concerned, asking, "have you slept yet?"

And then, the way Eduardo had leaned down to look at the screen, the way his almost vanilla scent emanated from him, affecting Mark more than it should.

"Eduardo Saverin, co-founder and CFO."

"Yeah."

"You have no idea what that's gonna mean to my father."

Mark smiled, said, "sure I do," before kissing Eduardo, fingers in his stupid fluffy hair, pulling him down. 

It was Valentine's day the following week, and Mark remembered thinking that not a single Omega could top what he had just given Eduardo.

Not a single one.  
  
  
  
He had been so foolishly and helplessly in love.  
  
  
  


* * *

An issue of _The Harvard Lampoon_ was published shortly after, riding the coattails of whatever remained of Valentine love in the air.

"How long has this been published?"

Eduardo was holding the magazine in his hand, eyes a little red, hands trembling with latent anger, growing fear. Mark was sat at the windowsill next to the bed. He had his chin propped on his hand, and he shrugged at Eduardo, a little bored.

"Your father reads _The Harvard Lampoon_?" Mark asked. "Oddly uncharacteristic."

Eduardo put the magazine down. "No, but— but this means… This means everyone _knows_ ," he said, picking up the magazine again. He read: "Understanding commitment is like passing under Mark Zee's window at Kirkland. Who knew what a Shakespearean he would be. Relationship status: written on his window. Rumor says his secret forbidden sweetheart Alpha boyfriend Eduardo left it there."

"That's one too many epithets for _boyfriend_ ," Mark remarked, getting to his feet and approaching Eduardo. "What are these people? Four?"

"Mark, this isn't funny."

Mark grabbed the magazine from Eduardo and leaned up, kissing him on the lips, gently. Not as forcibly as usual, not as passionately.

Just something soft to ease Eduardo's nerves.

Eduardo sighed into the kiss and his hands were in Mark's hair.

"You don't know what this would mean to my father," Eduardo whispered, voice broken. 

Mark pulled back and kissed the edge of Eduardo's palm, looking up at him from there, thinking, _I won't let him hurt you. I won't let anyone hurt you_.

_Ever._  
  
  
  


* * *

What had hurt Eduardo instead, were numbers. At least, that was what Mark kept telling himself. So he could sleep a little at night, every night, since that night Eduardo had told him _he'd be coming back for everything._

Of course, Mark knew, with clarity so sharp it felt like he was cutting his own heart open each and every time he admitted it to himself, that what had hurt Eduardo was in fact Mark. 

Not numbers. Not Sean. Not Facebook.

Not anyone, not anything else.  
  
  
  
(Maybe, he would wish sometimes, that he had been an Omega.)

(Because then maybe Eduardo wouldn't have kept pushing him away.)

(Maybe Eduardo wouldn't have strayed so far, fighting against him, fighting fire with fire.)

(Maybe Eduardo would have come out to Palo Alto sooner. And kissed him then and there, randos on the couch, Sean standing several feet away, Dustin at the computer. Showed them all who Mark truly belonged to.)

(And stayed with him.)

(Still own a part of him.)

(And never throw it away.)  
  
  
  
Mark had trusted that Eduardo could do the math. He had trusted that Sean would be wrong. The guy was only a Beta after all – nothing but a Beta.

But Eduardo had signed the papers. He had looked at Mark like he could trust him. Like he could have followed Mark wherever he went, blindfolded, hands cuffed, because that was what they'd built up.

Destructive trust. 

Blind love.

Sheer stupidity.

Mark had led them both into a trap.  
  
  
  


* * * 

Summer rolled in like waves on a shore. Some days were cooler, some days were hot. Heat ebbed away every time it hit too hard. As far as Boston's weather went, anyways.

It was only a little hot that day, but Eduardo's room had very little sun coming through, because of the trees outside.

Mark flattened his chest to the sheets, trying to look back to see Eduardo hovering over him, pounding his ass from behind, steady and rhythmic, his eyes closed, his lips slightly apart.

Eduardo had gotten lube from a safe-sex thing that was going around the campus the other day. They were using it – it smelled vaguely of apples and cinnamon. 

The bottle was already half empty. 

It was Eduardo's time of the year, after all.

"Mark," Eduardo rasped, breath short and hard. 

Mark hummed, soothing.

"Mark…"

"What?"

"Just… M-Mark. Are you sure?"

"Yes. P-please."

Eduardo bent forward and placed a kiss at the back of Mark's neck.

Mark flinched, a little alarmed.

Eduardo stopped thrusting. "That wasn't okay?"

Mark frowned, moving his hips, the slide of Eduardo's cock distracting him for a split second. He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again, saying, "that was unexpected."

Eduardo bit his lower lip. "I wasn't thinking—"

"I want it."

"My knot?"

"That. And you marking me."

"Mark—"

"There's nothing to worry about. It won't take."

Eduardo grimaced. "Then why—"

"Because it'll make me feel good. And wanted. Whichever. I don't care. Just do them both. Would you? Can you move now?"

Eduardo gave Mark a rueful smile before he started rolling his hips again, making Mark gasp and moan. "Why am I the one doing all the work?"

Mark scoffed, pushing back hard, almost bouncing. " _This_ is too much work?"

Eduardo laughed, leaned down to kiss and lick Mark's nape again.

"You really want… you really want to do this?"

Mark closed his eyes as Eduardo's cock hit just the right spot. "Yes. Yes. I want it. Please."

Eduardo nodded against his spine, then kissed and licked and kissed again, testing his teeth, and then, after he inhaled once, twice, he bit down.

Hard.  
  
  
  
Mark had never felt anything like it. 

It sent shivers down his spine. It opened up his senses, made his skin tingle all over. He curled his toes, arched off the bed, fisted the sheets, his vision blurring, the room swirling, his breath shortening. A tear rolling from the corner of his eye.

At that moment, electricity coursed through him.

It felt like he was molded into something new, gentle loving fingers telling him what to do, how to be. At that moment, he felt immortal, like anything could happen and it would be alright. 

He cried out noiselessly, and Eduardo held him tighter, wrapping his arms around him, pulling him up so that they were both on their knees, the length of their bodies pressing into each other. Eduardo let go of his nape only after he came inside Mark, filling him up so good it hurt.

And then he was kissing Mark. Apologizing again. For the pain, for the love, for everything.

For everything.

It was summer and most people would abstain from knotting, but Eduardo knotted him, pouring the rest of the lube around Mark's hole, finger circling and pushing in a little, to get the lube in, shushing Mark gently when Mark groaned at the stretch, soothing his sides, telling him everything would be alright, kissing the back of his nape, nursing the mark.

Everything would be alright, Mark had repeated to himself.

 _Everything would be alright_.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
Sometimes Mark would take his hood down and check himself in the mirror, twisting his neck slightly, seeing the half he could manage to see. The bruise at the back of his neck looked beautiful. He really liked it – liked the marks of Eduardo's teeth, liked its shape, liked what it meant.

But the mark didn't take.

And by the time Eduardo showed up at Palo Alto, it was already gone.  
  
  
  


* * *

"You're back with Christy."

"She thinks she's back with me, but she isn't, trust me, Mark. And she— she deleted some of your messages and calls. I didn't—"

"She took your phone. Why would she have your phone?"

"She was checking whether or not it still worked 'cause I was ignoring her messages and calls— she left me like, 50! She's psychotic, insanely jealous, and irrational, and I am deeply frightened of her—"

"Must be nice, having an Omega girlfriend to talk shit about."

"Mark—"

"You know what? I don't care," Mark said, shrugging. "Did you have anything else to say? I want to show you the wall."

Eduardo sighed, ran a hand through his hair. Then, gesturing at the closed door, in the direction of the living room, he said, "I do not want that guy representing himself as part of this company."

"You keep Christy, I keep Sean."

"I don't fucking want Christy! _Mark_ , I don't want her! Have you not been listening? And I don't want Sean— are you and Sean—? _Mark_ —"

Mark shook his head, biting his lower lip. "No, we're _not_. I'm just afraid if you don't come out here you're going to get left behind. I want— I want," he looked down at his feet. "I need you out here. When will you ever get that?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"That's not what friends do."

But they weren't friends. Not _just_ friends.

"Yes, all behind a Pix Firewall Emulator. But here’s the beauty."

"What's the beauty?"

Mark glanced at Eduardo, and smiled briefly.

"Every tenth line of code written, they have to drink a shot—"

 _You_.

"—and hacking's supposed to be stealth, so anytime the server detects an intrusion—"

 _You're beautiful._.

"—the candidate responsible has to drink a shot. I also have a program running that—"

_I want to kiss you in front of everyone._

"—has a pop-up window appear simultaneously on all five computers—"

Eduardo was looking at Mark like he was saying, _you're beautiful, you know that? I want to kiss you in front of everyone._

It was distracting. To say the least.

"—the last candidate to hit the window has to drink a shot. Plus every three minutes they all have to drink a shot—"

"Can I ask—" Eduardo cut him off. Mark held his breath. "Can I ask— what part of the interns' jobs will they need to be able to do drunk?"

Mark smiled weakly. 

_A more relevant question would be if you would kiss me in front of everyone, while they were all drunk_.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"You know about soulmates, right?" Eduardo had asked, a hand covering his mouth. There were snowflakes outside, falling gently, defying gravity. "Mark?"

Mark had just registered the domain name theFacebook through Network Solutions. 

He had also just kissed Eduardo for the first time too.

"Hm?"

"You know about soulmates, right?"

Mark shrugged. "Sure."

"You know that—"

"That some people never meet their soulmates."

"— that we'd be potentially ruining the chances for two other Omegas out there?"

"That's their problem."

Eduardo sighed. "Mark, I—"

"Did you not like the kiss?"

Eduardo gave him a pained expression. "I liked it."

"Then what's the problem?"

Eduardo sighed, leaned in and pressed his lips against Mark's. Mark closed his eyes, but then Eduardo pulled back.

There was something in his expression. The way he looked at Mark. Like Mark was everything and more. Boon, or bane. Life, or death. 

" _That_ 's the problem," Eduardo said, finally.  
  
  
  


* * *

October ended, November ended, December ended.

And then it was January – the month when it had all begun.  
  
  
  
Tapping the ball pen against the table once, Mark exhaled unsteadily.  
  
  
  
A tear rolled down his cheek when Mark signed the settlement papers.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


* * *

But no one was there to see it.

Not a single soul.

**Author's Note:**

> You made it to the end? Honestly thanks? Leave a comment if you liked this?
> 
> Haha. You can also find me on my [twitter](https://twitter.com/inexorably) & [tumblr](https://thesoulnetwork.tumblr.com).
> 
> Revive TSN 2019!!


End file.
